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Wales manager Craig Bellamy has admitted that his interest in one Tottenham defender was never intended to be public.
17 Tottenham players have already qualified for the World Cup this summer, and more hope to make it to the tournament via the playoffs, which start next week.
It emerged earlier this week that another Spurs youngster had been handed a potential chance to be at this summer’s tournament in North America after being contacted about changing his national allegiance
According to reports, Ashley Phillips had been approached about changing his allegiance from England to Wales by the Welsh head coach Criagh Bellamy.
Craig Bellamy makes admission about Tottenham’s Ashley Phillips
Ultimately, the Wales boss did not choose Phillips or the injured Ben Davies in his 26-man squad for the World Cup play-offs later this month.
The centre-back is instead set to be called up for England U21s, which means that any chance of him going to the World Cup with Wales is now over.
Bellamy has now confirmed that he did have conversations with the Tottenham defender about playing for the Dragons, but admitted that he was disappointed by the news being leaked.
When asked if the 20-year-old Spurs man had been contacted over playing for Wales, Bellamy said (via The Express): “We always look at dual nationalities; it’s been so good for us over a number of years. I’m so, so, so disappointed it’s got out again. It doesn’t help us. Trust me.
“I’m the one who has to ring the coaches up, I’m the one who has to ring Stoke up and apologise. It doesn’t do us any service at all – so please, if you do find a leak, speak to me first because you give us less chance of being able to get this type of player.
“It’s something for down the road, it’s not for now, but we’re always active on it. We have to be. There are players who have got quality and if they have a chance of playing for Wales, we have to be active.
“That’s for another time hopefully. I know what happened. It wasn’t malicious at all, it was done by accident. We all do want to do well. We all want the best Wales team we can.”
Phillips is making big strides at Stoke
The 20-year-old is in his second consecutive season on loan at the bet365 Stadium and has established himself as a vital part of the Championship club’s backline.
In fact, Phillips was given the captain’s armband at Stoke last week by manager Mark Robins, after an injury to his full-time captain, Ben Wilmot.
The fact that the youngster is being trusted to lead the Potters shows how highly he is thought of, and the former Blackburn man may believe that he can force himself into the senior England side in a few years if he keeps developing at the same pace.
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